Development Management Service Planning and Development Division Environment and Regeneration Department PO Box 3333 222 Upper Street London N1 1YA PLANNING COMMITTEE AGENDA ITEM NO: Date: 05 September 2013 Application number P2013/1262 Application type Full Planning Application Ward Finsbury Park Listed building None on site. Adjacent to the Grade II Montem Primary School and Laundry Building. Conservation area None Development Plan Context Site Allocation FP7 Site Allocations Development Plan Document, Finsbury Park Key Spatial Area Islington Core Strategy Policy CS2. Seven Sisters Local Shopping Area Development Management Policies; and Employment Growth Area Development Management Policies Licensing Implications A4 use (drinking establishment) proposed for 1 ground floor unit with an application for flexible planning permission for that unit. Site Address: 107-129 Seven Sisters Road Proposal Redevelopment of the site to provide a National Grid electricity substation and associated infrastructure, and 44 residential units and 4 commercial units (flexible permission sought for planning use classes A1 retail, A2 financial and professional services, B1 office, D1 non-residential institutions and A4 (1 unit only) drinking establishments) within a separate (maximum of) five storey building. Also proposed are alterations to the access arrangements into the site and associated servicing, parking and landscaping works together with the erection of a perimeter boundary around parts of the site and other associated works. Case Officer Mr Joe Wilson Applicant National Grid Agent Tim Linnington, Encor Consulting 1. RECOMMENDATION The Committee is asked to resolve to GRANT planning permission: 1. subject to the conditions set out in Appendix 1; 2. conditional upon the prior completion of a Deed of Planning Obligation made under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 securing the heads of terms as set out in Appendix 1; 2. SITE PLAN (site outlined in red) 3. PHOTOS OF SITE/STREET Photograph 1 : View of the site from Seven Sisters Road with Hornsey Road Baths development in background. Photograph 2 : View looking along Heather Close with site on the left and Hornsey Road Baths development on right with Montem School Primary in the distance. Photograph 3 : View of site from Seven Sisters Road including now demolished previous residential building. Photograph 4 : View of site from Seven Sisters Road looking west. Photograph 5 : Heather Close, development site on left, Hornsey Road Baths Development on right and Montem School ahead. SUMMARY 3.1 Key issues in relation to this application include whether the proposed development has complied with the objectives of the newly adopted Site Allocation policy for this site. This policy as required by the Planning Inspector makes provision for energy infrastructure alongside mixed use development providing housing and employment and retail provision. 4. SITE AND SURROUNDING 4.1 The proposed development is located towards the north of the borough within the Finsbury Park ward. The site covers an area of approximately 0.51 hectares and is rectangular in shape. The site has a boundary facing directly onto Seven Sisters Road which is a major arterial road designated as a ‘Red Route’. The site is also bounded by the highways of Heather Close and Newington Barrow Way with the other boundary of the site adjoining existing buildings to the west. 4.2 The site is currently vacant following the recent demolition of a number of previous buildings. The site is now under single ownership by the applicant, National Grid. 4.3 The previous buildings and land uses on the site included a variety of commercial and employment uses including the now demolished Red Rose Public House (A4 drinking establishment). Other uses of the site included a car wash business and Milk Depot. Also on the site was a residential building comprising of 10 units. 4.4 The site is not located within a conservation area nor contains any listed buildings. The site is located within the Finsbury Park Key Area as designated within Policy CS2 of the Islington Core Strategy. The site is also subject to a specific Site Allocation FP7 within the Site Allocations Development Plan Document. The character of the area is varied. Seven Sisters Road is a relatively busy major road and has a mixed residential and commercial character providing employment and services to the area. 4.5 The area to the north of the site is more residential in character with the large Andover Housing Estate and the recently constructed Hornsey Road Baths development being adjacent. A residential building which forms part of the Hornsey Road Baths development is directly adjacent to the site across Heather Close. The building is between 5-7 storeys in height. Council offices are also located in close proximity to the site accessed via Newington Barrow Way. The majority of Newington Barrow Way adjacent to the site is in the applicant’s ownership and is therefore not a publicly adopted highway. 4.6 Directly adjacent (to the west of) and sharing a boundary with the site is the Montem Primary School. The school is also grade II statutory listed on account of its historic and architectural interest. 5. PROPOSAL (IN DETAIL) 5.1 The proposed development is divided into two distinct elements which divide the site and are proposed to be constructed separately, as shown in the below table, and are referred to as phase 1 (darker blue) and phase 2 (lighter blue). 5.2 Figure 1 : Phasing Plan. 5.3 Phase 1 is located in the north eastern part of the site and relates to the construction of a large scale electricity substation and ancillary infrastructure comprising of the main building, the Switchgear building, the Head House services building and the Ancillary Services building. There would also be a small district Network Operator substation on this part of the site. 5.4 The Switchgear building is the largest of these buildings (in footprint) and would house the three high voltage transformers. The building would have a maximum height of 14.3 metres from the surrounding ground floor level, the roof profile slopes down in the direction of the site’s boundary with Heather Close. Part of the building’s footprint includes a basement level. At roof level three water to air coolers are proposed. Other associated equipment, plant and cabling would be located within this building. 5.5 The Head House services building surrounds the access shaft to the large power tunnel which runs directly under the site (travelling from St Johns Wood to Hackney). A planning permission has previously been granted for the erection of a Head House building in this part of the site to provide access to the Power Tunnel infrastructure. The proposed Head House building would have similar sloped profile to the Switchgear building with a maximum height of approximately 10 metres from ground level. 5.6 Both the Head House services building and the Switchgear building would be faced in a fibre cement cladding system. Both buildings would incorporate a green biodiversity roof which would be located on the slope of the building facing the Hornsey Road Baths properties across Heather Close. 5.7 The ancillary building would located on the corner of the site at the junction of Newington Barrow Way and Seven Sisters Road. This building would be 3 storeys tall and constructed in brick. 5.8 Also proposed as part of phase 1 is the erection of a 4 metre high perimeter boundary treatment along the majority of the Newington Barrow Way and Heather Close boundaries of the site. The boundary treatment would consist of a 2.4 metre high brick and sculptural concrete lower section and on top of this a 1.6 metre high aluminium perforated mesh screening. Street and feature lighting is also proposed to be incorporated into the wall as is an art/illustrative piece, providing commentary on the history of the Seven Sisters Road and Finsbury Park areas. Within the proposed perimeter wall, gates and an access point from Newington Barrow Way is proposed. The perimeter boundary wall has been proposed as being necessary to ensure a reasonable level of physical security for the proposed energy infrastructure. 5.9 Phase 1 is proposed as a response to the identified need to satisfy predicted future electricity demand for this part of London and wider area. National Grid is a statutory undertaker and has obligations under its operating licence to maintain an efficient, safe and secure electricity supply. The proposal is in response to forecast electricity demands with National Grid required to increase the capacity and robustness of its electricity infrastructure. The application has been submitted with a need case assessment for the infrastructure provision as well as a site selection assessment previously presented to the Planning Inspectorate in the recent examination of the site allocation policy for the site. 5.10 Phase 2 of the development is the proposed construction of a residential led L shaped building of a maximum of 5 storeys when facing onto Seven Sisters Road. The building provides a frontage along Seven Sisters Road and then backs into the site along its south western boundary dropping to three storeys in height where it abuts Heather Close. 5.11 The proposal would provide 44 residential units of which 22 would be provided as affordable and 22 private residential units. The private housing mix includes 16 x 2 bedroom (3 person units) and 6 x 1 bedroom (2 person units). The affordable housing mix comprises within the Social Rent tenure 7 x 1 bedroom (2 person units), 3 x 2 bedroom (3 person units) and 5 x 3 bedroom (5/6 person) units a total of 15 residential units. The intermediate/shared ownership dwelling mix comprises of 3 x 1 bedroom (2 person) units, 2 x 2 bedroom (3 person) units and 2 x 3 bedroom (5 person) units.